Cutting unit in automatic enclosing and sealing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A continuous sheet cutting unit constituting a part of an automatic enclosing and sealing apparatus, and making single sheet from a continuous sheet and supplying the single sheet to a subsequent unit. A setting information showing at least the width of the single sheet directly or indirectly is supplied to setting information supply means, thereby, by supplying the information of the position of slitters for cutting opposite sides of the single sheet and/or of the position of single sheet conveying guides for the subsequent unit, the information of the position of single sheet conveying guides of the subsequent unit and the setting information indicating directly or indirectly the width of the single sheet being cut to the setting information supply means, so as to locate automatically the position of slitters cutting opposite sides of the single sheet.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an enclosing and sealing apparatus and,particularly, to a continuous sheet cutting unit constituting a part ofan automatic sheet enclosing and sealing apparatus for cutting acontinuous sheet into a plurality of single sheets and supplying thesingle sheets to a subsequent unit.

BACKGROUND ART

Usually, in an automatic sheet enclosing and sealing apparatus,information processed by a computer is printed continuously on acontinuous sheet and, thereafter, the continuous sheet is conveyed to acutter unit and the upper and lower edge portions and the left and rightedge portions of the single sheets are cut by means of longitudinal andtransverse knives so as to provide a single sheet and, thereafter, thesingle sheet is conveyed to a subsequent unit.

A prior art cutter unit 1 will now be explained with reference toFIG. 1. The unit 1 comprises a continuous sheet conveying system 3 forconveying a continuous sheet 2 having printed thereon variousinformation by a printer unit (not shown in the drawing) and beingfolded alternately along transverse perforations or being wound into aroll toward a subsequent unit, a cutting system 4 for cutting thecontinuous sheet 2 conveyed by the continuous sheet conveying system 3,and a single sheet conveying system 6 for conveying a single sheet 5being cut by the cutting system 4 into the single sheet to a subsequentunit.

The continuous sheet conveying system 3 is also known as a tractor unitand acts to convey the continuous sheet 2 in the vertical directions ofthe sheet. The conveying system 3 conveys intermittently the continuoussheet 2 by pawls (not shown in the drawing) engaging with feeding holes7 provided in opposite side portions of the continuous sheet 2. Thelocation of the pawl is adjustable in a direction perpendicular to thefeeding direction or the left and right direction so as to match thewidthwise dimension of the continuous sheet 2. Displacement andadjustment of the pawl are usually performed manually, but in somerecent and expensive apparatus, the width of the continuous sheet isdetected and, the location of the pawl is adjusted automatically.

The cutting system 4 is constituted of a transverse knife andlongitudinal knives for cutting the upper and lower portions and theleft and right portions of the continuous sheet 2. The longitudinalknives for cutting the left and right edge portions 2a and 2b from thecontinuous sheet 2 so as to make a printing portion having the width Wat the central printing portion of the continuous sheet is constitutedof combined knives 8 consisting of respective two discs called slittersand arranged along two upper and lower shafts. The transverse knife 9for cutting the upper and lower portions to make the single sheet havingthe length L is constituted of two combined blades 9a and 9b of aguillotine type.

The slitters 8 are directly driven by a motor 10 which rotatescontinuously and acts to cut off the left and right edge portions of thecontinuous sheet 2 being supplied by a tractor so as to form apredetermined width W of the single sheet. Since the predetermined widthW may vary, the slitters can be adjusted manually so as to displace thelocation along the two upper and lower mounting shafts.

The transverse knife 9 consisting of two combined blades of theguillotine type acts to cut off the top and bottom portions of thecontinuous sheet 2 with the widthwise dimension being defined by theslitter 8 so as to form the single sheet 5 of a predetermined dimension.The transverse knife 9 acts to cut the continuous sheet 2 between afixed blade 9b and a movable blade 9a being driven vertically by a cam12 which is driven by a power source such as an electric motor 10through an electromotive clutch 11. The cutting operation of thetransverse knife 9 is performed at the stopping cycle between theconveying cycles of a tractor unit 3 which convey the continuous sheet 2intermittently. Thus, the distance of the convey of the tractor unit isequal to the vertical distance L of the single sheet 5 being cut. Thesingle sheet conveying system 6 consists of conveying rollers 14 whichconvey the single sheet 5 being cut by the cutting system 4 from thecutter unit 1 to a convey guide 13 of a subsequent unit. The singlesheet 5 conveyed on the convey guide 13 of the subsequent unit has thewidth dimension W defined by the slitter 8, and the position of thesheet 5 is restricted by the slitter 8. Usually, in the sheet enclosingand sealing apparatus, a number of functional units are combined toperform a desired integrated function, thus, the mechanical positionalrelationship between subsequent units is very important in suchapparatus. The conveying rollers 14 are driven by a motor rotatingcontinuously except in an error condition, and the single sheet 5 beingcut is instantly conveyed to a predetermined position of a subsequentunit. The motor for rotating the conveying roller may be the motor 10for driving the slitters 8.

In the apparatus, the width W of the single sheet 5 being cut and thepositional relationship between the single sheet 5 and the conveyingguide 13 of the subsequent unit are determined simultaneously byadjusting the position of the left and right slitters 8. Namely, inadjusting the position of the left and right slitters 8, it is importantto satisfy simultaneously these two requirements, or the widthwisedimension of the single sheet being cut and the positional relationshipof the single sheet being conveyed. Thus, it is very difficult and timeconsuming to adjust the position of the slitters. Further, any automaticadjusting means utilizing such as a motor and the like have not beenavailable and the slitters 8 are very sharp cutting edges, and theadjusting operation is very dangerous since the operator is required toperform the positional adjustment manually.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, in considering that the distancebetween the left and right slitters can quantitatively and unitarily bedefined when the widthwise distance of the single sheet is specified,that because the position of the left and right slitters corresponds tothe position of the single sheet the position of the convey guide of thesubsequent unit can be automatically adjusted based on the positionalinformation of the slitters, and that the position of the left and rightslitters can be automatically adjusted based on the positionalinformation of the convey guide of the subsequent unit; the adjustmentof the dimension of the slitters, and of the position of the conveyguide of the subsequent unit can be performed automatically.

Thus, the working efficiency of the cutter unit can be improvedremarkably, and the need for a dangerous manual adjusting operation canbe obviated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the general operation of a prior art cutterunit;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing one example of operation according to theinvention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged flow chart showing a portion of the operation ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view showing a cutter unit driven according to the flowchart shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the control circuitshown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation treatment of themicrocomputer of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a drawing showing the method for obtaining the position ofrespective slitters from the flow chart of FIG. 6.

BEST MODE FOR EXECUTING THE INVENTION

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flow charts showing an example of operation systemaccording to the invention and, particularly, a system in which the leftand right slitters are driven by independent stepping motorsrespectively based on the width information of the single sheet, andFIG. 4 is a general view of an embodiment of a cutter unit driven by theflow chart of FIGS. 2 and 3. The apparatus shown in FIG. 4 differs fromthat of FIG. 1 in that the left and right slitters are independentlyadjustable and, for the end, the left and right slitters areindependently screw-threadingly engaging with independent ball screws.The ball screws are driven by independent stepping motors.

In FIG. 2, various control information 22 to cutter unit 20 are suppliedto an operation panel 24 of the cutter unit 20, or from a control unit26 to the cutter unit 20, and to various units located fore and aftincluding the subsequent units 28₁ -28_(n) including a receiving unit28₁ for receiving the single sheet being cut, an enclosure unit 28₂ foroverlapping the enclosure with the single sheet, an enclosing unit 28₃for enclosing the enclosure and the single sheet into an envelope, andother units through communicating passages 30 connecting these unitswith each other. The control information 22 includes (1) the informationrelating to the width dimension 36 of the single sheet 34 being cut fromthe continuous sheet 32, (2) the information relating to the lengthdimension 64 of the single sheet 34 being cut from the continuous sheet32, (3) the information relating to the position of the single sheet 34being ejected from the cutter unit (such as the center standard or theedge standard, length dimension of the continuous sheet 32, the doublecut dimension between the single sheet, and the like). With respect tothe single sheet position information of item (3), in the system shownin FIG. 4, in which respective units are designed having the standard atthe center of the apparatus, "0" is set to show the center. However,such system are not usually designed to have the standard at the center,in such case, this information do not constitute the indispensableinformation. Further, the control information may include a plurality ofusual information for operating automatically and as desired the cutterunit 20. The information 22 being set as above are, as shown in detailin FIG. 3, by the function of the control circuit 38 in the cutter unit20, converted to the position information for the right side steppingmotor 44 and the left side stepping motor 46, through the function ofthe control circuit 38 in the cutter unit 20, and in response to theposition information, the right side slitter 52 and the left sideslitter 54 are driven through respective ball screws 48 and 50 topredetermined position. The rotating force of these ball screws 48 and50 is also transmitted to similar ball screws which are arranged on thelower side of the continuous sheet 32 and not shown in the drawing.Similar slitters 56 and 58 being arranged on the lower side of thecontinuous sheet 32 and not shown in the drawing are driven throughthese lower side ball screws and in the direction and the distance sameto the slitters 52 and 54. The independent motor control circuits areprovided on the left and right sides of the continuous sheet 32, sincethe center of the apparatus does not necessarily align with the centerof the continuous sheet 32.

The position information is supplied, by the action of the controlcircuit 38, through communicating passages 30 to the control circuits ofrespective subsequent units 28₁ 28_(n) as the setting information.While, in the receiving unit 28₁ to which the setting information beingsupplied, the conveying guides 60 and 62 are located, based on thesetting information, by a well known means not shown in the drawing.Thus, the position of the single sheet ejected from the cutter unit 20can automatically be aligned with that of the conveying guides 60 and62.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 5, the control circuit 38 shown in FIG. 3is usually an operational circuit utilizing a microcomputer, and in thecontrol circuit 38 the computer processing is performed on theinformation supplied to the control unit 26 and the informationconnected to the subsequent units 28₁ -28_(n), through signal receivingand emitting circuits respectively, and by adding integrally theinformation from the operation panel 24, so as to generate drivingsignal for the stepping motors for the left and right slitters.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the processing in the microcomputer and thedriving of the stepping motors for the left and right slitters shown inFIG. 5. In FIG. 6, the positioning of the left and right slitters isstarted by the input A of the sheet width information from themicro-computer or from the operation panel. The position to which theleft and right slitters are moved is calculated from the information Abeing inputted. The calculating process will now be explained referringFIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 7, the maximum distance B between the left andright slitters is the slitter distance (mm) when the slitters arelocated at home positions. The number of the steps of the motor of thedistance B is calculated by multiplying the distance B with acoefficient k which is determined from the mechanism. The calculationprocess is performed based on the conversion value. For example, whenone step of the motor corresponds to the distance 0.05 mm, k=0.05step/mm. Thus, in conversing the maximum distance B between the left andright slitters into the number of steps, (B×k) steps are obtained, whichis put as C. Next, the target position to which the slitters aredisplaced is calculated from the width A of the sheet. By setting thevalue S as the converted number of the width A of the sheet, (S=A×k) isobtained. The subsequent description will be made based on the convertednumber of the steps of the motor. As shown in FIG. 7, the number ofsteps P_(R) and P_(L) of the right and left slitter positions can beobtained by the subsequent equation.

    P.sub.R =P.sub.L [(maximum distance C of slitters)-(width S of sheet)]/2

Next, the amount of displacement of the slitters is calculated. Theposition of the right and left slitters at present are respectively setas (OLD P_(R)) and (OLD P_(L)). Thus, when the present position of theslitters are the home position, the (OLD P_(R)) and (OLD P_(L)) are zerorespectively.

    Amount of movement of right slitter D.sub.R =P.sub.R -(OLD P.sub.R)

    Amount of movement of left slitter D.sub.L =P.sub.L -(OLD P.sub.L)

It will be noted that the value D_(R) and D_(L) are values having signs(+) or (-) which shows the direction of the displacement.

Then, the slitters are displaced by driving the stepping motors. Theleft and right motors may be rotated simultaneously.

The information passing through the communication passage 30 of FIG. 3includes the subsequent (not exclusively):

(1) Control information such as the following:

a. START (action starting command for the system)

b. STOP (stopping command for the system)

c. ERROR (notifying an error condition in either one unit in the system)

(2) Setting information

a. Cutter unit

WIDTH (the width of cut sheet)

LENGTH (longitudinal length of continuous sheet)

CUT FORM (double cut or single cut)

b. Relating to the subsequent unit

i) from the cutter unit to the subsequent unit

POSITION of LEFT SLITTER

POSITION of RIGHT SLITTER

LENGTH of SINGLE SHEET

(the single sheet supplied from the cutter unit)

ii) from the control unit and through the cutter unit (when theinformation is collected to the control unit through transmittingcircuit and, is transmitted to respective units)

POSITION of LEFT SLITTER

POSITION of RIGHT SLITTER

LENGTH of SINGLE SHEET

(the single sheet supplied from the cutter unit)

OTHER INFORMATION (when the subsequent units include a unit for foldingthe single sheet, the folding form and the like)

In above described embodiments of the present invention, the descriptionis made that the information transmitted from the cutter unit 20 to thesubsequent units 28₁ -28_(n) is utilized as the position information ofthe left and right slitters, however, according to the presentinvention, it is possible to effectively utilize other information. Forexample, (1) The width information of the single sheet may be suppliedto the subsequent unit. In this case, the "single sheet width"information supplied from the control unit may directly be transmitted.(2) The single sheet width information and the single sheet positioninformation are transmitted to the subsequent unit. This case is similarto the (1) case, but, is effective when the conveying mechanism isdesigned to have the standard not located at the center. (3) Theinformation of the conveying standard of the subsequent unit istransmitted to the cutter unit, and the information of the width of thesingle sheet is supplied from either of the control unit and theoperation panel. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited tothat the necessary information are supplied from either of the controlunit and the operation panel. The necessary information may be collectedto the control unit through transmitting passages and may be supplied torespective units. For example, the information of conveying standard tothe subsequent units may be transmitted to the cutter unit. Further,when the constitution of the system is clearly given, the informationmay be transmitted directly between respective units.

As described above, according to the present invention, by enabling theautomatic adjustment of the positioning of the slitters, it is possibleto automatically align the single sheet conveying position and the widthof the single sheet, which improves substantially the operability of thesystem. Further, the accuracy of the width of the single sheet iscomparable to the accuracy of the device for positioning the slitters,which omits the necessity for measuring the width of the single sheet.Further, since the position of the slitters can be adjustedautomatically the adjusting operation performed at dangerous locationcan be omitted and the safety of the operators can be improvedremarkably.

We claim:
 1. An automatic enclosing and sealing apparatus including:acontrol unit for inputting control information including widthinformation relating to the width of a single sheet being cut from acontinuous sheet; a cutter unit for displacing and adjusting slitters ina widthwise direction for cutting the width of the single sheet so as tohave a widthwise dimension, and a plurality of subsequent unitsincluding at least a supply unit for supplying the single sheet and anenclosure overlapping the single sheet, and a unit for enclosing thesingle sheet and the enclosure into an envelope, said control unit, saidcutter unit and said subsequent units are arranged serially, wherein thecutter unit comprises: a control circuit for calculating and setting theposition information for setting the position of the slitter in responseto the width information, drive means for driving the slitters, inresponse to the width information, to the response position, and saidcontrol circuit for supplying the position information to saidsubsequent units.
 2. An automatic enclosing and sealing apparatusincluding:a control unit inputting control information including widthinformation relating to the width of a single sheet being cut from acontinuous sheet; a cutter unit for displacing and adjusting slitters ina widthwise direction for cutting the width of the single sheet so as tohave a widthwise dimension, a plurality of subsequent units including atleast a supply unit for supplying the single sheet and an enclosureoverlapping the single sheet, and a unit for enclosing the single sheetand the enclosure into an envelope, and said control unit, said cutterunit and said subsequent units are arranged serially, wherein the cutterunit comprises: a control circuit for calculating and setting theposition signal for setting the position of the slitters in response tothe width information, drive means for driving the slitters, in responseto the width information, to the calculated position, and said controlcircuit for supplying the width information to said respectivesubsequent units.
 3. An automatic enclosing and sealing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises an operation panelfor inputting said width information independently.
 4. An automaticenclosing and sealing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein theapparatus comprises an operation panel for inputting said widthinformation independently.